Oral analgesics and analgesic combinations have become some of the most frequently prescribed medications for the treatment of patients experiencing both acute and chronic pain. This use has increased recently with newer and more progressive pain treatment regimens emphasizing aggressive and preventive approaches to pain management. Unfortunately, many of the available opiate and opiate-related analgesics are constipating. This adverse effect often necessitates dosage reduction or diet modification to alleviate or prevent constipation in chronic pain patients.
One method of preventing and treating constipation associated with the use of opiates and their analogs is the administration of laxatives. This measure has the advantage of preventing further complications and side effects caused by medication prescribed to a patient suffering pain that requires pharmaceutical intervention. Stool softening laxatives or bulk laxatives are typically chosen over irritant or stimulatory laxatives to alleviate constipation in these patients without adversely affecting electrolyte imbalance or digestion and absorption of other medications and foods.
Typically, patients prescribed opiate-containing analgesics on an outpatient basis are instructed to purchase and use a non-prescription stool softening product. In many instances, these patients either forget, or choose not to purchase the recommended stool softener resulting in constipation that is later more difficult to treat than to initially prevent. Additionally, those patients that do begin use of a stool softener do not vary the dose of the laxative as their opiate use increases or decreases, often resulting in constipation or diarrhea. Thus, there exists a need for a pharmaceutical dosage from incorporating opiate analgesics and analgesic combinations and a stool softener that will inherently increase or reduce the dosage of the laxative concurrently with a patient's opiate use.